Page 68 of Royally Arranged

“Fine, sure. Go.” I didn’t care what they did. I was having trouble thinking of anything but Nova, and the acute memory of my come sliding down her legs on the night I’d taken her virginity.

Jesus.

This could really be happening. I could actually be a dad.One step at a time,I told myself, running a palm down my face. I shut my eyes, breathed in, then began taking long steps down the hall.

I didn’t see anyone as I headed toward the main foyer. My best guess was they were busy with their duties—probably still handling breakfast in the kitchens. At the point where the hall curved, my vision partially blocked, I didn’t see the guard until he was on me.

He stopped himself just before we ran into each other. “Your Majesty,” the guard said stiffly. “I need you to come with me.”

“To where, and why?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

The young man gave me a conspiratorial look, his voice dropping low. “Please, Your Majesty. It’s about the queen.”

My headache vanished, replaced by my abrupt terror. “What’s wrong with Nova?”

“I can’t say here. Follow me, we’ll go quickly.” His furtive behavior clinched it for me; Nova was pregnant, and this guard couldn’t say it out loud in case someone else heard and confirmed the rumor. He was taking me to her.

When I nodded, he spun so fast that his short cape swirled. On the back of it was the red-and-black crown that matched the one inked into my own skin. I followed the guard down the hall, and when we reached a passage that split off, he turned down it. I was relieved he walked so quickly. My anxiety demanded I nearly jog—I’d have sprinted if it would give me answers faster. Instead I trailed behind the young man, obsessively checking my phone again, like Nova might respond to my text now that I knew something was wrong.

A short set of stairs led us deeper into the castle. I hadn’t been this way before. A cold tingle rocked up my spine when I spotted three more fully dressed guards standing along a wall. They looked at me, their frowns obvious.

“Where is this?” I asked, staring at the low ceiling, the bare walls. This part of the castle was much less adorned than the rest.

The guard stopped in front of a door, moving aside, waving me through. “This,” he said as I passed, letting me see inside the room for the first time, “is the royal family’s personal holding area.”

The small room held a flat bed in one corner, a rusted chamber pot in the other, and literally nothing else. I knew what this was: a prison.

“Hey there, Funny Man.”

Whirling, I spotted Larchmont where he stood just behind the door. Another figure blocked the light from the hallway as he sealed off the only exit: Richard Valentine. “What the hell is this?” I asked, backing up.

The guard who’d led me here said nothing. He shut the door, a metallicclickechoing through the room.

We three were locked inside.

Larchmont smiled, swinging a long leg forward until he was shoulder to shoulder with his brother. The room felt smaller with them looming in front of me. “Relax,” he chuckled. “You’re acting like we’re going to kill you.”

“How do I know you aren’t?” I asked.Fuck fuck fuck.I didn’t have a weapon—could I call for help?

“Huh. I guess you’re right.” Shrugging, he flipped his hands palms up. His grin turned my stomach. “There’s no way to knowwhatwe’ll do to you.”

I flicked my attention to Richard, then to the speck of light beneath the door.

“No,” Larch said, reading my mind. “The guards won’t step in to assist you. I gave them some cash to turn their heads. It took less than I thought, once they learned what you’d done.”

Breathe. Think. You can get out of this.“I’ve done a lot of things that could make people turn away while I got a kick or two to the ribs. What exactly are you referring to?”

Richard slid a hand into his jeans pocket. I tensed up, fight or flight making me hyperaware. I expected him to reveal a weapon; he offered me a shiny photo instead. My relief didn’t last long once I saw what this was.

The photograph had been taken from the street just outside the church’s cemetery. It was mildly out of focus, but not so much that I couldn’t recognize my own face. Whoever had taken this had captured me as I screwed Nova from behind.

Stunned, I looked at Larchmont’s smug smile. “Thanks for the memento, I guess. But why would anyone care about this?” I asked.

“It’s a picture of ourwonderfulnew king getting his rocks off with a prostitute in the sacred royal cemetery where his uncle had just been buried.” He tapped his chin. “Yeah, why would anyone in this monarchy care about that? What a damn mystery.”

Blood started to pump through me at max capacity.Prostitute?I looked at the photo again. From that angle, you couldn’t tell the auburn-haired woman was Nova.

“I was trailing you that night,” he said. “I saw you go to the red-light district. You threw me a curveball when you left and ended up at that old-ass ship, but when I spotted you again in the cemetery, I realized you must have asked that hooker to meet you there to throw me off your scent.”

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